Boulevard of Uncertain Dreams

Walking down the streets of Alang, I had a strange feeling in the pit of my stomach. Though I went on enjoying the majestic sight of the glorious ships and the dusty yet intense lanes of the town, there was something that kept hitting my thoughts. It had been two weeks since I came back home and I could not come up with any diagnosis to my problem. That was till today. I finally drew a conclusion as to why my usually inactive mind was so busy thinking.

The thing is, Alang has had a huge impact on my mind - the ships, the old machinery, the used furniture, and the dirt covered labourers – everything dull and boring, yet in some complex way, interesting and attractive. I don’t make a lot of sense here, do I? Let’s roll it from the top.

Alang is a ship-recycling/breaking yard, around 50 km from the city of Bhavnagar in Gujarat, India. It’s not only just any ship-breaking yard, but one of the biggest ones in the world. Ships from all over the world are taken here and, well, put to rest. In short, when you go there, the first sight you’ll behold is that of gigantic ships being chopped off. At first, you’ll take some time in getting over how huge these ships are when they are not partially submerged in water. And then, you’ll be awestruck by the kind of work the people there do. Yet another thing, it’s not one or two ships, but hundreds of them standing at the beach being drilled and cut to pieces.

After getting over the realization of how tiny I am (seriously!), I started opening up to the sights and sounds that surrounded the ships. From the main street from where we could see the ships, we moved to a lane that housed various shops and warehouses. The female gene in me started jumping at the prospect of shopping! I was told that these shops sold stuff that was taken out from the ships -chairs, carpets, cutlery, curtains, sheets, washing machine, dishwasher etc. You name it and it is there. So after a lot of walking, we finally went in a store that had cutlery.

And that’s when it started. I stepped in and was lost. All around the store, there were cups, glasses, saucers, bowls, plates, jugs, wine glasses placed in a number of racks. Each one of them had some sort of seal on them. There was one with a big S on it, another one with a logo. Few of them had dates printed on them. Some were fresh, some were chipped. Some were in sets; some were the only pieces left. There was nothing extraordinary about any of them-thick white china with a logo. Yet in some way, they pulled me towards them.

My thoughts were immediately taken back to my childhood, when at school we were asked to write essays and biographies on some inanimate object. It would be a coin or an umbrella or a car. I remembered that I used to make sure I wrote a sentimental story, where the coin/umbrella/car in question would be lying in a junkyard somewhere, yearning for its past life. It always got me the best marks!

Looking at this store, I could feel each and every item calling out to me, reminding me of every biography I wrote. Each one of these item had had a dream life. They were created for ships and the people who travelled in them. They had travelled to innumerable places. And yet, where are they today? In some dingy shop on the suburbs of a ship breaking yard. They started with hopes and dreams and ended up as useless trash. Of course, the lucky ones out of these would be bought again by hotels and restaurants but what about the others? Should they give up?

Why was my mind thinking about this? Well, somewhere in the whole trip my mind found a link between the plates in the store and life. Just like the plates and the cups, life starts out with hopes and dreams. It starts with a purpose and a goal. For some these dreams are fulfilled, for others, let’s just say, they are stacked up on a rack somewhere. They may get lucky, they may not. But should they give up dreaming altogether? Before I had the honour of meeting the ship stuff, I would not be sure of my answer. But now, my answer is no. It’s because while at the store, I lifted up a chipped glass and I could see it sparkle against the light, without giving up, ready to serve once again if given a chance. And I guess life should be like that. Even if we are down and low we should not give up: we should be ready to do what is expected of us at any instant. Just like the glass.

Well dear glass, and your interesting companions, this one is for all of you. I hope you guys make it big some day. Till then keep hoping, keep sparkling!